We are here to help your daughter if she suffers from Cutting Disorder, a form of self-harm in which a girl will use sharp objects (such as knives or blades) to create surface cuts over her own body. While not suicidal, your daughter is indeed intentionally injuring herself, possibly using cutting (or Self-Mutilation) as a way to cope. Your daughter will likely be careful to make sure that her wounds are not seen.
Cutting may be considered its own mental illness, but is certainly a symptom of others, such as Behavior Personality Disorder, Depression, Anxiety Disorder. If you are noticing inexplicable wounds or scars (sometimes explained as, “I was just being clumsy”), bloodstained clothing, sharp objects (or shattered glass) in her possessions, incongruously long-sleeved shirts or long pants (in warm weather), and extended isolation and irritability, your daughter may be suffering from this disorder.
You may be shocked to discover your daughter having this problem, since many most often relate it to a darker, “underworld” element rather than a “normal” middle-class family setting.
Where Cutting Begins
Cutting typically begins in middle to late adolescence and might be triggered by factors such as low self-worth, isolation from friends, even a feeling of lack of acceptance within her family. Long-term therapy can be valuable, but your daughter must first understand her need for help and want to make a change.
Treatments can vary depending on the professionally identified cause for the behavior, but cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy (which could coach her about her personal triggers and establish the coping skills that might work best) are most often used. Alternative outlets for expression can also be useful, with techniques such as journaling, sports or physical activity. Without doubt, removing any kind of sharp objects can help her resist immediate urges for self-harm.
